Pours a light golden color with a white head and a bit of lacing. The nose brings some slight Noble hops as well as grain. The taste is grain and a bit if bread. Some slight bitterness in a lift body. Drinks okay and is much better than High Life and the like, but not too great.

Didn't really prefer this beer much from the bottle and was hoping for better off the tap. But, while is South Carolina, it was the most sevice-able beer to wash down the Jambalaya. The beer was severy very cold, but once it warmed, it shows some malt / caramel flavors and aromas above a timid body and cola-like appearance. Seemed to go down fine with a mild grain flavor and sticky feel in the finish. Certainly prefered to an Amber Bock or the Black and Tan.

Macro Smackdown XXI will feature a macro lager from America's oldest brewery (Yuengling Premium Beer) against a macro lager from a relative upstart, Sun Valley Brewing Company in Hailey, Idaho (Gretchen's Gold Lager). The first brewery has been around since 1829; the second since 1986. Who will be the proud owner of the latest MacSmack crown when all is said and done? Let's find out.

Pale gold that could almost be called maize. The cap is an appealing shade of eggshell white and has a great deal more character than your average macro lager. As well, an impressive amount of fine, delicate lace is beginning to appear. An early edge to YPL.

The nose is classic macro lager. I can appreciate untoasted grain and a musky, even musty, hoppiness that puts me in mind of lagers from BMC. It's a fraction better, but not much. This smells like the kind of beer that will go downhill fast as it warms, so I'd better get moving.

Yuengling Premium's flavor profile is also classic (see the previous paragraph for the less than riveting description). Whether that's a good thing or not is up to you. The only positives are that it's simple beer and doesn't hang around long at all. Those are usually negatives, I'll admit, but it does result in a certain inoffensive drinkability.

Although the ABV is 4.9%, YPL might as well be a light beer in terms of how it tastes and feels in the mouth. Of course, I haven't had their Light Lager yet. For all I know, it might set a new lightness standard for light beer.

I've already alluded to the mouthfeel. To be fair, it's somewhere between light beer average and macro lager average. That, along with a reasonable amount of carbonation, ensures that aficionados can drink this stuff by the sixer (or the twelver) and not get filled up. Less taste and less filling... what a deal.

This one of those Macro Smackdowns that is a battle of attrition rather than a glorious victory followed by a ticker-tape parade. Yuengling Premium, although nothing even remotely special, is the winner by virtue of its classic flavor profile and its lack of off-flavors. Amazingly, it's still better than just about anything you're likely to find clogging up the coolers at your local Quickie Mart.

This is probably my least favorite release from Yuengling. This beer is very generic, I can't honestly say that there is anything special in this that would make someone seek it out. I've had one bottle of this and it was pretty much just your typical run of the mill brew. Yellow in color, taste is of some malts and corn, not much hops to speak of.

Bought this in a quart bottle at the pizzaria around the block,what a waiste of $2.50.Poured a yellowish color with some head,not much smell out of this at all maybe a little breadlike?Taste was almost skunky,very bitter and nothing really stood out but the bitterness in my mind.I'll make sure not to make the mistake in buying this again.

A crystal-clear straw-gold body is topped by a good-sized head of creamy bright white foam. The retention is good, and although it drops in size rather quickly, it also maintains a thin surface covering for some time. Additionally, some nice lace is also present and adds greatly to the appearance. The nose is fresh and clean, delivering a straight-forward grainy malt and some minor yeast character. The body is light and crisp. The flavor is exactly as the aroma suggests with a lightly grainy malt, a very subtle background hop flavor, and an underlying bitterness. It finishes short and dry. There's not enough going on in the flavor to keep it interesting, but at least it's not as sweet as some of the mainstream macros available right now. At the very least, it's a refreshing, crisp and clean lager that's perfect for extended outdoor activities during hot summer days.

T: The taste starts out with a light malt sweetness that is quickly followed by bready flavors of grain and lager yeast. The hops presence is very mild but there is a decent balance. The after-taste is slightly bready and slightly sweet.

O: A little flavorful, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, good representation of style, this beer has a little bit more flavor and substance than your typical macro but over a it’s really just a mediocre beer.

Spotted this one out at Chicken Chuck's been meaning to give the premium beer a whirl since I have had all of Yuengling's other products. Besides the bottle is a short stubby quart that just looks vintage and classic at the same time. The appearance of this beer is a golden yellow with a very bright white head decent head retention going on here. The aroma though is of faint malt sweetness along with semi harsh slighlty cooked vegetable tones mainly corn and rice. Very similar to other macros in appearance and aroma, but the taste is much better than most. Very clean and refreshing crispness that does of some malted barley somewhere and there no off flavors attempting to induce my gag reflex. So, all in all this beer aims for mediocrity and comes out a winner. This is nothing special just good ol' American light lager compares with Iron City to me. Lighter bodied beer designed to be drank on a hot summer day after mowing the lawn, I enjoy this beer for the time. I just can't picture wasting to much time with a beer of that's just alright..

I picked this up at Thirsty's Quick stop in York PA. A quart bottle poured into a tumbler.

The color is slightly dark golden with a thick 2 1/2 finger cap of sudsy white retains fairly well with ultra fine bead. The smell is a very odd sweet smell like corn or rice-very cereal and light on malt without much aroma in general: basic 'beer' smell as my wife calls it. The feel is thin, gassy and light with slick slightly creamy texture with some DMS. There is mild sweetness but finish is semi-dry.

The flavor is dry and grainy with a corny slightly sugary taste w/ a hint of toast. The taste is slick like canned corn with the malt light. The overall flavor is clean expect for the DMS which is distracting although the crisp finish is like eating a corn pop - it leaves little in the way of taste after the swallow, just comes and goes like a pop song. Overall I don't fault this it is not terrible, just not impressive and a lackluster flavor in general. I think it might appeal to those who may like other mass produced lagers

Poured into a red Solo cup (muahaha), a pale straw-yellow color, fizzy, with a finger or two of bubbly white head that receded quite a bit rather quickly. Aroma of boring grains, light floral hops, and a bit of citrus zest. The taste followed the smell pretty closely, with grains, pale malts, light floral hops, all a bit metallic, but not entirely unbearable. Light mouthfeel, and fairly drinkable particularly if nothing else is available.

Pours straw yellow with a fizzy white head that fizzles down to a disappearing patch. Typical macro appearance.

The smell is of corn starch. Some vague malt with metallic notes present. Some bitterness comes through, but not in a way that blends so well.

The taste is like a raw macro. Some grain, but plenty of corn. Metallic and salty notes come through. Bitterness shows that hops are here, but poorly executed. I would think that the metallic notes are from the can, but I have detected it in the bottled version. Flat finish followed by a funky aftertaste.

It has something of a body for the style, but is almost completely masked by seltzery fizz. An undesirable aftertaste lingers for a brief moment.

This isn't completely undrinkable, but there is an astringency not found in many other macro-types. Unimpressive, even for style. While there is a hop presence, it is too bitter and the corn smell and taste just interferes without adding flavor or light-bodiedness (so what is the point?) Well, it is cheap. But, you get what you pay for in this case...

The beer pours a pale gold color with a thick frothy white head that quickly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It's not very complex, but as far as adjunct lagers are concerned it has a "premium" aroma. It boasts of pale malts and lager yeast. It's light and mildly fruity. The taste is average. It has a very light and refreshing flavor, but it lacks in beer taste. It tastes really watered down. The mouthfeel is good. It is a low bodied beer with good carbonation. This is a good adjunct lager. It's not at all skunky or musty and it goes down quick. I like the aroma and the taste is better than most. This is a good drinker.

A finger-plus of off-white head with decent retention. Col.or was a lemony, sunshine-yellow with NE-quality clarity. If nothing else, it looked like sunshine/summer in a glass. Nose had a solid lager sweetness, none of that adjunct B. S. Mouthfeel was full with a lot of carbonation scrubbing away all of the B. S. on my tongue as I swirled it around. Taste was light, but clean. Again, this was more like a real Lager than their own Lager! It had a refreshingly mild sweetness along with a palatable flavor. I think that I was poisoned as a kid when when I heard adults sneer about it as "Coal Country Beer" while swigging Rolling Rock. What was that? "Steel Country Beer" woulda been Arn, ya jagovs! How would yinz have characterized Rolling Rock back inna day? Coal, Shmoal, it is a decent lager. Hey, take this to the beach in place of TenFidy and you'll only be thanking me. I still want to have Lord Chet in a CAN before I make my final pronouncement from on high in CANdom Come. Finish was lager sweet, but sans adjunct flavors. A nice, simple, German-style lager from PA. I am starting to doubt my own prejudices.